


Rhapsody in Greene

by Mrs_Spooky



Category: Cowboy Bebop
Genre: Gen, Strong Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-04
Updated: 2010-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-07 04:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6785686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_Spooky/pseuds/Mrs_Spooky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spike and Jet must capture a bounty that can travel through hyperspace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Shit." 

Dropped a screw. Jet sighed watching it roll under the bench.   _Gonna have to get that, I'm out of spares._

Jet had grabbed a couple of bounties in the three weeks that Spike was recouperating from the injuries he suffered on Europa. This last one fired a shot at him that he blocked with his mechanical arm. It was damaged and needed repairs, and with the spare parts he stocked, he was usually able to repair it himself. It was awkward, but he always managed. He stood up with a grunt and bent down to locate the errant hardware. Spike had wandered by and heard him cursing.

"What's going on?"  
  
Grumble, "Dropped the damn screw. Rolled under the bench."   
  
"Here, let me. Outta the way."

On hands and knees, Spike peered under the bench, seeing at least a half dozen screws under there. "What does it look like?"

"IT LOOKS LIKE A GODDAM SCREW."

Spike looked up at him. Reaching under the bench, he pulled out the screws and presented them to Jet. "Which one?"

Jet took the screw he needed from his hand and went back to work on the mechanism in his arm. Placing the rest of the hardware on the bench, Spike watched him for a moment, "Want me to…?" 

"NO, I got it." 

Shrugging, his partner turned, "Ok. Yell if you need anything" as he walked away.

Jet watched him go.  _I could use the help and it was good of him to offer, but it's MY arm, I'll take care of the damn thing._ For reasons Jet couldn't explain, he was defensive about the mechanical replacement for the natural arm he had lost. He didn't want anyone looking at the mechanism inside either.   _It's almost as if I don't feel whole. Ridiculous._ Sighing again he went back to work. The bounties he'd been able to nab these past few weeks were barely enough to cover fuel and gate tolls. Both their savings were quickly depleted by food and hospital bill payments. Neither bounty hunter was in the best of moods at this point and they found themselves snapping at each other - mostly Jet snapping at Spike.   _He just doesn't LISTEN._

The replacement assembly was ready to be installed. As he was inserting the mechanism, one of the retaining screws dropped. 

_What's HIS problem?_  Spike had healed sufficiently where he thought he could go back to work. Disliking the feeling of uselessness while he healed, he watched as Jet brought back bounties without him. They were small timers - hardly worth bothering with, but that didn't seem to bother Jet. Of course they did have that hospital bill to pay so it was necessary. Heading back to his quarters, Spike retrieved the book he had borrowed from Jet about Charlie Parker, one of Jet's favorites. It was a very interesting read, and not being needed anywhere else, he plopped himself down on the sofa and continued where he left off.

"SPIKE!!" 

Sighing, he replaced the bookmark and closed the book. Ambling into the workshop, Spike saw Jet sitting aggravated, holding the mechanism in his arm. 

"Dropped another screw. Do you mind…?" 

Silently, Spike retrieved the screw and following Jet's instructions, his slender fingers deftly affixed the mechanism into place and connected the wires. Jet closed the outer shell and tested out his arm and hand movements. Everything was working normally again. 

"Thanks." 

"Don't mention it."

Picking up after himself, Jet went to join Spike in the living area. By now his partner had stretched out on the couch and fallen asleep. Dropping heavily on the chair, Jet turned the terminal around and started looking for signs of any bounties in the area. They weren't far from Mars and the bounties there were sometimes plentiful.

While he searched an alert popped up on the screen. A new bounty was just announced. A research firm, Mostar Dynamics, had put a fifteen million woolong bounty on one Doctor Vanessa Greene, one of their former researchers. Hmmm. Theft of company classified materials, suspected sabotage. He brought up her picture and saw an attractive middle-aged woman with brown hair and eyes. Her face was growing heavier with age, but still nice to look at. She was a scientist who specialised in hyperspace physics. Damn!

Jet did some more digging and was able to find the names of some of her former colleagues and where to find them. A good start. Mostar Dynamics had their main research facility and headquarters in Kyoto in the southern hemisphere. Good luck, it had a sea where he could land the Bebop. This should help save on fuel.

He hurried to the bridge to set his course to Kyoto. Course laid in, he went back to wake Spike and fill him in on the latest bounty. Fifteen million woolongs,  _Spike will certainly be up for that_ , he smiled.

Heading down to the living area, Jet called out to Spike to wake him up and tell him about their next bounty. He wanted his help too with the landing authority in Kyoto. No response. 

"Spike." 

His partner was lying half on his side sound asleep, face completely blank.  _Geeze, he looks dead!_  Concerned, he touched the side of his neck and felt a pulse. Louder now, "Spike!" 

Jet sighed. Here we go again. Jet was finding that Spike has two sleep modes, catnap and comatose. Shaking his head, Jet started shaking his partner. 

"SPIKE, GODDAMMIT WAKE UP." 

Mumbling, Spike rolled over to face the back of the couch, but Jet caught his arm and pulled him to a sitting position. Spike awoke suddenly with a gasp, then blinked uncomprehendingly for a few moments. He looked up to see his exasperated partner glaring down at him. "What's the matter??"

"Fifteen million woolong bounty. JUST hit the wire, we're going there now. We'll be there in a few hours and I want your help with the Martian Landing Authority in Kyoto. You ok?"

"Fifteen million?" Rubbing eyes, "Who what and where?"

Jet filled him in on what he found out about Greene and brought up her picture for Spike to examine. He was going over the names and locations of her colleagues when the alarm chimed informing them that it was time to begin the landing sequence.

The two took their seats on the bridge. Spike hailed the Landing Authority requesting permission to land in Kyoto - a water landing. The proper codes were given and permission was granted. The course they gave him was passed up to Jet who punched it in on his console. As they approached the planet he bounty hunters felt the Martian gravity taking effect in the normally weightless bridge. As the Bebop passed the outer boundary of Kyoto, Jet made preparation for the water landing, closing the external engine ports. It was a gentle splashdown, as the massive ship headed to the dock.

***

Spike boarded the Swordfish and took off to the address Jet had given him for the bounty's former colleage, Sandra Yamadera. He had just taken off, heading across town when Jet's voice came over the comm.

"Spike."  
  
"Yo."  
  
Pause, "Are you getting anough sleep at night?"  
  
Long pause, "Are you being funny?"  
  
He heard a sigh coming across the communicator, "We both know you sleep a lot. Sometimes there's no waking you up. Just want to make sure you're ok."  
  
Spike thought about it, "I'm fine, nothing to worry about. Sorry about that."  
  
"Just make sure you check in and let me know how you're doing or if you find anything. If you run into trouble, I'll be there to back you up. I'm going to check on some leads at Mostar, we'll meet up later."  
  
"Roger that."

The Swordfish parked, Spike located the address Jet had given him and rang the doorbell of the apartment in a very well-appointed apartment block. The door was answered shortly by a middle-aged Japanese woman. 

"Yes, can I help you?" 

Spike introduced himself and explained that he was inquiring about Dr Greene. "You used to work with her, right? She's not answering her phone and I need to speak to her about a personal matter and I wondered if you could help." Then he added, hesitating, "To be honest, I haven't heard from her in a couple of weeks. Last few times I talked to her she didn't sound like herself and I'm concerned."

Dr Yamadera studied the earnest young face in front of her. "I haven't seen her in over a month, and to tell you the truth, we weren't that close. You could try Doctor Daniel Nightfire. He's known her longer than anybody, and as far as I know they were still in touch." 

"Thanks! Know how I can find him?"

Spike lit a cigarette as he made his way back to the Swordfish. She had given him Nightfire's number, but it wasn't answered when he called. He already had the address from Jet. It was too far to walk and he didn't have the money to rent a car, so he headed back to the Swordfish to park in a location closer to the apartment.   _Jet's been awfuly crabby lately. Must be the money._  Spike had to admit it was starting to worry him as well. If it was just him alone, he could find ways of earning it to get him and the Swordfish where he needed to go, but having a ship to support in order to continue working… that's a big responsibility. He was also acutely aware that his hospital bill put them behind and it will take a while to catch up.   _I really need to get this bounty. This should finish off the bill and maybe give us a little left over._  Spike wasn't interested in being a cause of worry. He wanted to earn his keep, not drain another's resources.

The Swordfish landed, Spike hopped out and walked the few blocks to the address Jet had given him for Nightfire's place. It was a neighborhood of small row houses, strictly residential area. The yards were neatly manicured, and the flowers the residents had planted filled the air with a pleasing fragrance. Here it is. Spike rang the doorbell, not really expecting anyone to be home. After a minute, he turned to leave when the door opened. A tall, willowy doe-eyed young lady stood there questioning. Spike turned back to her and smiled. 

"Hi there. Sorry for the interruption. My name is Spike Spiegel and I'm looking for Daniel Nightfire. Is he in?" 

"What's this about?" she asked.

"It's a personal matter about a mutual friend," he assured her. "I'm trying to find my friend and I thought Daniel would know where she was. He was a colleague of hers, and I'm told they kept in touch." 

She asked the name and he told her, "Vanessa Greene. Do you know her?"

The young lady sighed, "I've met her once or twice. Daniel said he dated her some years ago before I met him."  
  
"Will he be home soon? I really do need to talk to her and he may know where I can find her." 

She watched him for a moment then sighed. Stepping aside to invite him in, she said, "I'm Susan. Susan Nightfire." Susan led the way through a short entry hall into the living room. It was a light and airy place with a fireplace on the left that looked like it had been recently used. 

Seating themselves, Susan asked Spike if he had known Vanessa for long. 

"A few years" Spike told her vaguely, "I met her through a mutual acquaintance."

Susan confided that she was worried. She hadn't seen Daniel in almost two days. He hasn't been home, hasn't called, doesn't answer his communicator. It's not LIKE him! "I'm afraid I don't know where he is. If I don't hear from him this afternoon I'm going to have to call the police. I can't find him anywhere." 

_Shit. NOW what?_ This Dr Greene wasn't going to be as easy to find as they thought. Spike listened sympathetically to Susan's story about how she met Daniel when he was one of her professors in grad school. After she graduated they married. She had met Vanessa, but the woman was cold and angry, she didn't know why, Daniel had told her that they had broken up years ago. Spike was watching her talk, nodding occasionally, listening, when he saw the contents of the dining room behind her distort.   _What the hell?_  The distortion rippled outward from a center point, and everything in the region shimmered. Spike stood up in alarm and disbelief.   _What the HELL…?_

  
***

_I'll fix ALL of them!_

Doctor Vanessa Greene had been working for years on a way to harness the fields needed to allow matter to travel through hyperspace. She spent several months in the vicinity of the Earth and her ruined moon, gathering samples. She theorised that those fragments closest to the exploding gate, if their mineral composition was correct, might have their properties altered in such a way that an imaginary coordinate system would be contained in their atomic structure that may be utilised by in a device mounted aboard a spacecraft as an alternative to the gate system that was in use now.

Finding funding for her work was a struggle, as was convincing her peers and the Board of the soundness of her theory. Her calculations were unassailable, why couldn't they see that? Her colleagues refused to take her theories seriously, and peers snickered at the papers she published - IF they were published at all.

She had found the sample she was looking for that proved her theory. Enlisting the aid of the two people who would listen to her, she constructed the prototype of the Hermes device that could be used to allow an individual spacecraft to travel through hyperspace without the gates. She had tested it on herself, the sample she had wouldn't permit anything larger than the mass of one or two humans to travel through hyperspace. It was no trouble at all going from place to place, heck even walking through walls, since matter in hyperspace doesn't interact with the normal universe. She could travel across town in a matter of minutes on foot. The trick would be in finding enough material affected by the gate accident to make Hermes commercially viable. Even better, find a way of duplicating the conditions of the accident in a controlled manner to manufacture more material that would form the core of Hermes.

On the eve of her breakthrough, she was summarily fired from Mostar.   _Management there never understood my work. They thought I was a laughing stock. Well, I have my own personal hyperspace portal. I'll fix them. I'll show THEM who's a laughing stock!_

They had relieved her of the credentials needed to access the facilities, but it was no problem for her at all to enter the premesis through hyperspace and do whatever she wanted. She was able to erase years of data, subtly alter equations to set them back years, if not decades. Soon, sabotage wasn't enough to satisfy her rage. The damage she caused gave her a feeling of power and invincibility. Finding her former supervisor was easily done. All she had to do was wait in her supervisor's office in hyperspace until the woman was in there alone. The news report the next day about the murder amused Greene highly. The police were baffled how a woman was bludgeoned to death, alone in an office that was locked from the inside. Nobody had been seen coming or going. The colleagues who helped her build her personal hyperspace device had already been dispatched. Nobody would find THEIR bodies, she cackled. If she couldn't present her findings and accept the accolades, then nobody involved would be left alive to talk about it.

Revenge was growing sweeter with each act of vengeance.   _Nobody can stop me!_

Professional hurts remedied, Greene still wasn't satisfied. Danny. They were engaged to be married when he met that vacuous student in one of his classes. She saw less and less of him until he eventually told her that he needed more time to "think." He needed "space!" Greene had seen him with her after class, all cozy. He finally called off their engagement a month before he married that girl that was half his age. Susan! That was her name! That Susan creature stole her man, and they would both be dealt with.

Vanessa had already taken care of Danny. On the pretext of showing him Hermes, she took him on a little tour of Kyoto via hyperspace, right to the rock rim surrounding the city. Pushing him into the rock, she disabled the hyperspace field, embedding his body there forever - just like she dispatched those who helped her build Hermes. The Susan creature was next, her fate was already planned…

She knew where Danny and that little trollop lived, it was a simple matter to fire up Hermes and walk. She reached the coordinates and stepped out of hyperspace… to find Susan wasn't alone! There was a young man with her who rose suddenly as she was about to disable the field, a look of surprise on his face. The field collapsed and there she was facing a tall, green-haired boy. He recovered quickly, approaching her with nearly lighting speed. Presssing buttons, she took advantage of the surprise to restart the hyperspace field, but not before he had leaped over the couch. She had hoped she could time the field activation to catch half of him in hyperspace, thereby eliminating the threat, but he pulled back at the last instant, saving his limbs.   _Shit! I'll have to come back later._

***

Susan turned to look at Spike who was suddenly behind her, "What's the matter? What happened?"

Spike stood rooted to the spot in disbelief as Greene had appeared, then disappeared as suddenly as she arrived. Recovering quickly, he turned and asked, "What do you know of Vanessa Greene? Specifically, her relationship with Daniel."


	2. Chapter 2

Jet checked the time. It had been several hours since Spike left and he hadn't heard back from him. He sighed. Security was tight at Mostar, but he was able to talk to an administrator, a man named Yoshida. Wanting to find Greene and being the one who filed the bounty, Yoshida filled Jet in on some of the more disturbing occurrances that had taken place in the last week. Greene had been fired, and since then a supervisor had been killed and two others disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Another researcher was unaccounted for, one Daniel Nightfire. The ISSP was investigating, but so far they had no leads to work with. 

They didn't have any more information for him, but Greene was working on something she called Project Hermes - the two people who were working with her were among those who had vanished. No, they had no information about Project Hermes, just that it was consuming her time to the exclusion of all else.

Standing near his Hammerhead, Jet pulled out his communicator and dialed.   _Where the hell IS he??_

***

Susan had fixed some tea for the two of them, then settled in on the sofa to talk. This Spike person, despite his peculiar behavior earlier, was proving to be a sympathetic ear, and he seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say. 

"We met when I was in grad school. My major is astrophysics. I'm working on my doctorate now, and I don't have that much father to go. Danny was a huge help with my studies." She sighed, looking out the window.

She considered Spike's questions thoughtfully, "You asked about Doctor Greene… she's an… odd one." 

"How so?"

"She was just very cold. Very distant. Danny said they used to date, but that they had broken up long before we got together. It must not have been a friendly breakup. Unless she was angry about something else?" She looked at him questioningly, wondering if he knew anything. Spike shrugged - he didn't know either. "We saw her about a month ago," she continued.  "She was working on something that she said would revolutionise space travel. Something called Project Hermes, she said, but wouldn't say anything more. Anyway, she got fired a few weeks ago and that's the last we saw of her."

Spike opened his mouth to ask a question when his communicator chimed a call. Pulling it out, he saw that it was Jet.   _That's right, I should have checked in hours ago.  He's gonna be pissed._  "Yo!"

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU??" 

Spike suppressed a smile. He gave him the address and said to meet hm here, then disconnected before Jet could launch into a scold. He smiled at Susan's questioning look, "A mutual friend. We're both looking for Doctor Greene. He's a great guy, but he may be a bit grumpy."

They had chatted a bit more when the doorbell rang. Susan looked at the clock and saw that a half hour had passed. Answering it, she found a very large, bald, bearded scruffy-looking character with a mechanical arm frowning at her. His expression softened as he introduced himself as Jet Black, Spike's friend. Dubiously, she let him in. Spike rose as he entered the living room and greeted him with a smile. Jet just shook his head.

Spike introduced Susan, let him know about Doctor Nightfire and that he hadn't been seen in a few days. "We should go. I'm sure you have things you need to do," Spike told her. He asked for her number in case he had more questions. She hesitated, but gave it to him. He was nice enough, and he seemed to know Vanessa and if he was any good at finding people, maybe he can help her find Danny.

As they were leaving, Spike turned, "Would it be ok if we came back later on and just hang out here for a while? It might not be a good idea for you to be here alone." 

Jet shot him a look, which Spike ignored.  

Susan protested that she had lab work to do and couldn't take the time off from her studies, but Spike insisted that she shouldn't be alone, at least for the next few days. Reluctantly, Susan said she agreed. Spike thanked her and left with his friend saying they'd be back shortly. She shook her head at their backs as they headed down the walk.

***

"Ok, what was that all about?" Jet asked. 

Spike lit a cigarette, then stopped. "It was the weirdest thing," he said. "I was talking to Susan, when the area of the wall behind her distorted, then Dr Greene was in the room. I ran to grab her, but she disappeared again." 

Jet just looked at him. Spike shrugged, shaking his head. "I know it sounds crazy, but I know what I saw. Greene saw me too and it looked like she wasn't expecting anyone but Susan to be there. I went after her, but she was wearing some device on her wrist that she fiddled with just before she disappeared again."

Jet thought about it. "I wonder if that was Project Hermes." He filled Spike in on what the Mostar Dynamics administrator had told him about the murder and disappearances. Spike told him about what Susan told him, that Greene was working on something that she said would revolutionise space travel. Called it Hermes. 

They continued walking thoughtfully in the late afternoon sun. "That's a good idea, us staying with her." Jet concluded. "Whatever that thing is that she had on her, and with what you saw and what Yoshida told me, she must have found a way to travel through hyperspace without a gate. That murder at Mostar Dynamics would be consistent with someone who wasn't hindered by matter." 

Spike shuddered inwardly, thinking about what may have happened to the folks who disappeared, including Nightfire. He thought Greene had something of a deranged look on her face in the brief moment he saw her and thought her capable of anything. If she was after Susan for some reason, it's best if she wasn't left alone in places where she could normally be found. At least until Greene was caught.

"You DO need to check in though. I'm serious" Jet was telling Spike, interrupting his thoughts. Jet worried about him, and  _damn it, it's not going to kill Spike to let me know what he finds every now and then!_ Spike just nodded. 

"You hungry? Let's get dinner." Spike, always hungry, was happy with the suggestion.

Susan closed the door behind them and watched the two men leave. She didn't think it was necessary having the guys staying with her, but something about how Spike had acted earlier gave her pause. His jumping up and leaping over the couch like he did gave her the shivers.   _What isn't he telling me?  Maybe he doesn't want to worry me?_ she thought. Susan didn't completely understand, but resigned herself to having company for a few days.  She was also realising she didn't want to be alone.

***

Greene found her way home, raging. She stomped around her apartment ranting to herself, hardly recognising the place in her fury. Placing Hermes in the dining room's credenza, she found herself railing against the stupid bad luck of that Susan creature having someone there with her. That young idiot looked like he wanted to grab her!!! She didn't know what infuriated her more - that she didn't get the trollop or that she didn't maim or kill the boy that was with her. Growling, she headed towards the bathroom to wash up. Greene was noticing an unfamiliar metallic smell on her from her travels through hyperspace, and it was disturbing.   _Need to clean this off, I don't like it._

Greene showered, but the smell was still there. Food was tasting … metallicsour to her too. Wiping the steam from the mirror she caught sight of herself and didn't recognise the face that looked back at her. The face was twisted in rage, dark bags under squinted eyes. Veins on her forehead were even more prominent than they were before. Preparing herself for bed, Greene comforted herself with thoughts of eliminating the trollop and that young fool of a friend that was with her.

She didn't sleep at all that night, tossing and turning in sweat-stained sheets.  Rising finally the next morning, she grabbed a quick bite to eat, dressed, then strapped Hermes to her left forearm.  She hadn't thought about what she was going to do once she had dispatched the girl and her friend, but that didn't worry her so much.

Firing up Hermes, she stepped through the walls on a hyperspace tour of Kyoto.  Visiting the rock rim of the city, she checked in on the bodies she had embedded there.  She spent quite a while with Danny, talking to him about how it was most unkind of him to abandon her for a younger woman and it's too bad for her because she'll be joining you soon enough and you look like you aren't getting enough sleep are you eating well....

Tiring of the conversation, she bid him adieu and told him he will soon have company.  Greene headed off in the direction of their home, humming to herself.

***

The bounty  hunters picked up some groceries to take back to Susan's house.  They knew Daniel was dead, they just didn't know how he died.  Jet was inclined to want to forget about it - this woman was dangerous and could even walk through walls!  Spike reminded him that a young lady's life was in danger.  Jet sighed, knowing he was right.  They had to see this through, whether they got the bounty on Greene or not.  He had a bad feeling about this whole thing and had no idea what they would be able to do to stop her short of killing her.

Susan didn't know how to entertain these guys, then realised she may have made a mistake, having these two strange men in her house.  What did she know about them anyway?  Somehow sensing her growing uneasiness, the two men started talking, joking with each other, including her in the jokes.  She had to laugh.  They were  pleasant company and she appreciated their being there.  Despite his stern countenance when she first met him, she was finding that this Jet person was a kind man as was his friend Spike.  She was surprised to learn that he was a former ISSP detective.  She turned to Spike, "What about you?  Are you ex ISSP too?"  

Spike just smiled at her, "No, I had a wasted youth.  This guy here rescued me from wasting my adulthood."  

Jet just shook his head, "Yeah, when and if you finally REACH adulthood!"  

Susan laughed at Spike's fake hurt expression.

She told them about her project that she was completing for her doctorate.  With great enthusiasm, she launched into a description of her theory about the end of life of stars, calculating how much mass and energy is required for a supernova.  "Will they just fade away and disappear, or go out in a blaze of glory? I want to be able to predict that and when they will die."  Jet was asking some intelligent questions, Spike sat there with a glazed look in his eyes.

Susan found them charming, but something didn't feel right.  "How do you guys know Vanessa?" she asked suddenly.  "We've been talking for hours and nobody's mentioned her.  That IS why you came looking for Danny, right?  To find Vanessa?"  

The two men looked at each other.  Jet sighed and ran his hand over his head.   _She deserves to know the truth..._

"Yes, we did come to see Daniel to find Vanessa. That much is true.  The fact is, we're bounty hunters.  There's a bounty on Doctor Greene and we're trying to find her.  We wanted to stay because she has something on her that she invented.  Something dangerous."  Susan stared at him in shock. 

Spike chimed in. "Whatever it is that she came up with, she's using it to raise all kinds of hell with the researchers at Mostar Dynamics."  Glancing at Jet, who nodded, Spike continued, "When I was here earlier, she appeared briefly behind where you are sitting now.  I ran to grab her but she vanished before I could reach her."

Nodding slowly, "Hermes.  It has to be." The look on Jet's face told her that he had heard of it.  "Hermes was, among other things, the Greek god of speed and commerce. Vanessa wanted ships to be able to travel through hyperspace without the use of the gates.  Maybe make interstellar travel possible.  That's the theory.  It sounds like she may actually have a working prototype."

She stopped suddenly in horror. "Do you think she may have done something with Danny?"  

Jet held up his hands quickly ,"Now we don't know that.  Let's not jump to conclusions here. "  

She thought furiously, "She was HERE earlier? Do you think she'd try to hurt me?   Why?  I never did anything to her."

"You told me earlier that Daniel told you he used to date Doctor Greene.  Is it possible they didn't break up when he said they did?"  

"Spike," Jet sighed.

It was making sense now, Vanessa's attitude when she would meet her. "What if she and Danny were still together when we started seeing each other? Or what if he left her for me?"  She didn't like the implications of that.  Sighing, she looked out the window and realised that it was morning again.  The sun was climbing and it looked to be approaching noon.   _Where did the time go?_

"Can I make you guys some coffee?  Tea?"  

Spike stood suddenly, "Jet, do you see that?"  

Jet looked in the direction where Spike was looking, "No. See what?"  

Spike was off the couch and headed towards the dining room.  Susan stared at him in alarm, then towards the dining room.  She saw nothing.

He couldn't explain it, but he was seeing the same distortion he saw yesterday. He made note of the size of the bubble that he saw forming.  He waited for Greene to appear before making his move.  The distortion collapsed revealing Greene standing there, hand on the device strapped to her left forearm. Spike launched himself at her, knocking her into the dining room table.  Jet was on his feet rushing the two, hoping to keep her from reactivating Hermes.

Before Spike could grab her free hand, she had reactivated Hermes, sending them both into hyperspace.


	3. Chapter 3

"SPIKE!!!!"  

Jet and Susan gaped at the spot where Spike and Vanessa stood just a moment before, Susan in terror, Jet in an equal mixture of rage and anguish.  "Son of a bitch!!" Jet was raging.   _That boy is going to be the death of me._

***

Cursing, Spike wrapped his arms around Greene and held on for dear life.   _Shit, I didn't grab her hands.  NOW what??_

He could vaguely see Jet and Susan through the field with looks of shock on their faces.  Greene was wild, trying to fight him off, but Spike was too strong for her and held on  all the tighter.  "What did you do with Nightfire?" he asked.  

"You want Danny?  Well let's go find him yes I need to speak to him too and I know he'll want to meet you he's feeling rather lonely you see and would love the company." 

She started walking, pushing him through hyperspace.  Spike found it to be a fascinating, unsettling experience, taking a step and travelling much farther than he would normally. Walls didn't exist, normal universe's matter didn't exist inside this bubble.  Greene was babbling now, and not at all coherent. He snuck a peek at her face and saw that she bore little resemblance to the photo he saw in the bounty alert.   _Ok, this Hermes device needs work, it looks like it's ruined this woman's mind_  Spike thought.  She was drooling, and Spike couldn't avoid getting some of it on his clothes.  She had a metallic smell too.  Great.

A few short minutes and they were at the rock wall that formed the edge of the city.  Spike dug his heels in, but Vanessa surged forward with the strength posessed by the insane and into the rock they went.  Spike worried about air - where is the oxygen coming from to breathe with?   _This is NOT good._

They had just entered the rim when Spike saw the body. Nightfire was not a tall man.  Middle-aged, but fit.  Greying.  His bearded face wore an expression of surprise, frozen forever merged with the Martian rock and soil.  Spike gagged. He had to get out of there.  Greene was babbling at Nightfire's body, chatting in an endless, terrifying psychotic stream of consciousness.  She had brought him a friend to keep him company.   _BullSHIT!!_

While she was rambling, Spike took a moment to study Hermes.  It looked like it was simple to operate. There were four buttons, one was lighted green, which must have meant that the device was powered up.  Which one shuts it off?  Shit.

Spike could feel emotions rising up, threatening to overwhelm him.  Terror was at the top of that list, but a bleak sadness was fighting for dominance.  His thoughts were growing confused and he realised that he had to get back to normal space and quickly.  Preferably within Kyoto's city limits!  He'd be screwed if she pushed him outside the city.  He'd never survive in the natural Martian atmosphere.

"Hey!" he interrupted Greene's discourse, "Let's go get Susan! It's not a party without the little woman, you know what I mean? We HAVE to show her this place!"

Greene stopped, suddenly suspicious.  Remembering why she brought this young pup here in the first place, her eyes rose to meet his with a malevolent glare. "Oh yes she will be here shortly you on the other hand can wait here for her oh yes I don't want to leave Danny here alone."

Remembering which direction they took to get into the rock, Spike started pushing Greene back towards the city. He hoped she wasn't insane enough to drop the field while they were embedded in rock and to his relief it was one step and they were back in daylight.  Spike felt like he was going to need Jet's help to subdue this woman and hoped he would still be at Susan's house.  

"Come on, let's get Susan.  I wanna go with you!  This is just the most fascinating invention, we have to show her!  Come on, let's go get her! I have to show her how amazing this thing is. What's it called again?"

Greene was eager to grab Susan and she loved talking about her baby, Hermes.  They sped through the city at lightning speed as Greene described the properties of the ore she found from the Earth's moon that was changed by the gate accident. The lunar rock orbiting the Earth was a goldmine of hyper coordinated ore just waiting to be exploited.  The scientist still lived in a mind that could not survive the effects of the hyperspace field that Hermes formed.  Spike could feel pity warring with the growing nausea he felt from seeing Nightfire's body and what this hyperspace field was doing to himself.  The rational woman was completely gone, perhaps never to be retrieved.   _Just get me the hell OUTTA HERE!_

The trip to Susan's house was mercifully quick.  Trying to keep his head clear from the increasing confusion, Spike closely watched Greene's free hand when they reached the dining room.  Greene hit the button closest to her elbow and the field began its collapse.  He could see Jet sitting on the couch next to Susan. "... he's my kid brother" he was saying. 

"Jet!!" 

The field gone, Spike grabbed Greene's right arm, as Jet lept off the couch.  Moving swiftly, Jet swung, fist connecting with Greene's jaw, dropping her instantly. Both Greene and Spike collapsed in a heap on the dining room floor, Spike retching.

Jet swiftly relieved Greene of Hermes, Susan placing it out of sight.  Greene was out cold. Spike rolled over onto his face, half on hands and knees, losing his breakfast.  The nausea had taken hold and there was no fighting the sickness that had overcome him.  He was dimly aware of arms around him, one arm under his stomach, a hand holding his forehead.  Spike came to to find that he had thrown up on Susan's dining room floor.  She had run for towels to clean up the mess.  One of them she ran under cold water, which Jet applied to the back of his neck.

"You ok?" 

"Yeah."

Spike tried to rise, but Jet held him down, telling him to take it easy for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry.  I'll clean that up," he said.  

Susan wouldn't hear of it, staring in awe of the unconcious scientist laid out on her dining room floor.   Spike was shaking his head, trying to clear it.  He wiped his face on the towel Susan had provided, then Jet lifted him up and placed him on the couch, ordering him to stay put. 

"You big klutz, don't you EVER do that again, do you hear me?"  

Spike nodded weakly, then fell deeply asleep.

***

Once he was satisfied that Spike was asleep and ok, Jet pulled out his communicator to call the number for Mostar Dynamics, letting them know that they had Greene.  He appraised them of her condition and that they should send a medical team.  He disconnected, and waited for them to come get her.  Susan had produced a blanket, that Jet used to cover Spike then joined her in watching over Greene.  She did not look like the woman in the picture they supplied for the bounty.  

"Do you think she showed Spike where Danny is?" she asked Jet.  

He glanced back to his sleeping partner.   _Yes, I think she did, and it couldn't have been pretty_  he thought.   He just glanced at her, "We'll have to ask him when he wakes up."  

Susan folded her arms across her chest and shuddered. "I think she killed him. Danny left her for me and now he's dead."  

Jet put his arm around her. "I'm sorry.  I'm sure when Spike wakes up, he can tell you where he is."  He sighed.  Susan was a sweet young lady and it was certain her husband was dead.  This was news he never got accustomed to delivering.

Mostar Dynamics had an ambulance that they had dispatched to collect Vanessa Greene.  She was lying on the dining room floor, eyes open staring vacantly at the ceiling. She was alive in the sense that she was breathing and her heart was beating, but mentally, it looked like there was nothing left.  The medics checked her out and loaded her onto a stretcher then into the waiting ambulance.  Jet asked them to check on Spike, who had also been through the hyperspace field that Hermes produced.  The medics examined him, declaring him to be stable and expected him to recover quickly. He had been exposed to the hyperspace field for only a short time, so the effects would not be permanent.  A few days of rest and he should be good as new.  They signed the form indicating that they had retrieved Doctor Greene from the bounty hunters and that she was alive. The form had instructions on collecting the bounty from the head administrator.

The medics left with Doctor Greene, leaving Jet alone with Susan.  He sat down with her and let her talk about her husband and their life together.  They had plans for the future that would now never be realised.  Susan still had her work, but life would be empty without Daniel. Jet thought  _she's young and attractive.  In time she'll find herself a husband closer to her own age._ It's not good to go through life alone.

Several hours later, Spike awoke.  Bleary, mismatched eyes opened and the young man owning them yawned and stretched.  Turning his head, he saw Susan and Jet sitting across from him watching him wake up.  Closing his eyes again, he asked nobody in particular, "Am I dreaming?" 

Chuckle " 'fraid not, partner."  

Groan.  Spike sat up, rubbing his eyes, remembering.  He looked at Susan and saw the question in her eyes.  

"Do you know where he is?" she asked. 

"Yes.  She took me there," he said grimly.  "I'm very sorry."

"I want you to take me to him."  

She had decided.  She was now a widow, and wanted to pay her respects at her husband's grave.  Spike was hesitant, but with Jet's urging, he agreed to show here where Daniel's body could be found.  She loaded the bounty hunters into her car, Spike directing her to the spot that he recognised from the trip he took with Greene.  It was off  road, but her vehicle easily crossed the terrain to the spot that Spike pointed out.  The three exited the vehicle, as Susan approached the spot that Spike had pointed out.  The two bounty hunters hung back as she walked up to the rock wall where Vanessa had embedded her husband.  

Spike lit a cigarette and smoked it silently while Susan grieved.  Jet draped an arm across his shoulders. "What was that like, walking through hyperspace?"  

Spike just shook his head, "You don't wanna know.  It was great, but horrible.  I can't tell if it's hyperspace itself that's so disturbing or if Hermes just needed work."  Jet nodded.

The three of them returned to Susan's house, passing the trip in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Arriving at the house, the bounty hunters took their leave. Spike asked her, "Do you have someone you can stay with?  What will you do now?"   

"My sister doesn't live far from me.  I can stay with her for a while until I can figure out what to do now."  

The police will have to be notified.  Mostar Dynamics will have some explaining to do, now that Daniel Nightfire's body has been located.  Susan was at that point undecided what to do - leave him there or find a way to excavate his body to give it a proper burial?  The bounty hunters didn't envy her the decisions she was going to have to make.  

"Wait," she said, running back into the house. 

She returned with Hermes, handing it to Jet. "I don't want this in my house.  I know you earn your living picking up bounties, maybe you can earn a little extra for this. God knows, you EARNED it!"

The bounty hunters bid her farewell and wished her luck, offering their sympathies.  She was sad to see them go, having grown attached to these two gentlemen. Susan had never met bounty hunters before and decided she really liked these two and would miss them. 

Spike in his Swordfish followed Jet's Hammerhead to Mostar Dynamics to collect the bounty on Vanessa Greene.  Landing their carriers in the spaces provided, the bounty hunters marched into the administration office to collect their reward according to instructions.  The young clerk at the desk was not aware of any bounty placed by Mostar Dynamics on any employee, past or present. Good day to you good sirs.  The two men looked at each other, Jet insisting there was some mistake.  He had a receipt that was given to him by the medics that retrieved Greene from the Nightfire residence just a few hours ago.  The young man checked his terminal again.  

"Nope. No mistake.  There have been no bounties placed by this company. I'm sorry but I can't help you."


	4. Chapter 4

It doesn't happen at all often, but occasionally private enterprises will try to stiff the bounty hunters from their rightful rewards.  Fighting down the rage, Jet asked to speak to Hiroshi Yoshida.  He'll straighten this all out. 

"I'm sorry, but Yoshida-san is not currently available."

Jet's face reddened in fury.  

Spike spoke up, "Hey Jet, how many research firms do you know of?"  

Surprised, Jet thought about the question. "Hmmm, let me see. I know of two on Venus, two others on Mars.  There's definitely one on Europa and I'm pretty sure Ganymede has two or three.  Why?"  

Smugly, Spike asked him, "How much do you think these companies would pay for Hermes?  Do ya think the ISSP would be interested?"  

Jet grinned broadly.  "You know what?  You're right.  This bounty is chump change, let's see what we can get for Hermes on the open market. Let's go."

The two men rose to leave.  The clerk jumped to his feet stammering, "Well hold on.  Yoshida-san may not be available, but I'm sure there is someone else who can talk to you."  

The bounty hunters exchanged knowing glances and waited.  Both men pulled out a cigarette and lit them.

"I'm sorry, there's no smoking in here,"  the clerk declared. Blowing smoke, the bounty hunters just smiled.

The clerk made a few calls, frantically trying to find someone to talk to these guys.  He had heard of Project Hermes, and while he didn't know much about it, he knew that it was something Doctor Greene was working on and it might be important.  Finally he reached somebody.  Nodding with relief, he hung up the phone. 

"Mrs. Chen will see you.  She'll be down momentarily."  

"Thank you!"

They were joined shortly by a youngish woman with short black hair and black dress with red jacket.  They all introduced themselves and she motioned for the bounty hunters to follow. There was a small conference room just off the lobby that wasn't in use, so she led them in and invited them to sit.  

"How can I help you gentlemen?" she asked briskly.

Jet produced the receipt he got from the medics when they picked up Greene.   Chen reviewed it and nodded.  She handed the paper back to him saying, "I'm sorry, we only pay if the bounty is brought back alive."  

Spike and Jet looked at each other in shock. "She was alive when the medics came and got her. This is proof that we did turn her in alive!"

Chen shook her head "We don't consider her 'returned' until she's back at our facility.  She died on the way.  It's all explained right here."  She turned the page over, and at the bottom embedded in some very small print, it did indeed say that the woman had to be returned alive to the facility in order to pay the bounty.  "Sorry, there's nothing I can do."  

The bounty hunters were glowering at her.  Spike sniffed dismissively, "Let's go, Jet.  I'm sure we'll get more for Hermes than what these guys were going to pay."

"You have Hermes?"  

"Yes we do.  We relieved her of it when we captured Greene, which we did at great personal risk.  We captured her, neutralised her, handed her in ALIVE and retrieved Hermes.  I think we're entitled to SOME compensation."  

Chen considered. "Wait here, let me see what I can do."

She rose and left the conference room pulling out her communicator.   She turned the corner and dialed a number.  "I'm talking to the bounty hunters that brought in Vanessa... Yes I told them, but they're not accepting it.  Said they have Hermes and are talking about selling it to another lab. ... Ok.  Yes sir, I'll tell them.  Thank you."

The Institute had been trying to find Greene's notes on the Hermes project, but were only able to access what had been saved to the corporate archives.  They had only recently figured out that Greene had a working prototype and was using it to enter the facility.  They wanted to perform their own autopsy to learn the effects of Hermes on the human body.  Obviously the device needed a lot of work.  

Chen returned to the conference room where the bounty hunters waited.  "What we can do is pay you ten million woolongs for the return of Hermes.  My vice president is setting it up to pay you as soon as they have the device.  Before you leave I will get you a promissory note.  Bring that with Hermes back here and ask for me.  I will take care of your payment.  Fair?"

The two men looked briefly at each other.  The larger man nodded.  It was the best they were going to do.  This saved them the trouble of having to convince other labs that Hermes worked.   Judging from the effects it had on Greene and Spike, it was NOT safe to demonstrate.

Chen sat back in her chair.  "I'm curious, how were you able to capture her?"  

Jet looked at Spike who told her about Greene's vendetta against the Nightfires and how he was able to grab her when she stepped into normal space and that he knew where Greene had put Nightfire.  He left off the part about being able to see the field.  She listened carefully.  "So how long were you in hyperspace with Doctor Greene?"    

"Fifteen minutes, tops."  

She shook her head, "You are one lucky young man.  You could have been killed."

"Yes he could have," Jet replied severely.   "He was sick as a dog when they came out."   
  
"But the medics checked him out.  I saw the report, there won't be any lasting effects. Doctor Greene used it a lot and over time it appears to have destroyed her physically and mentally.  We will have to study it to find out if it can be made safe and commercially viable."

There was a knock at the door.  An assistant entered with the promissory note for the bounty hunters. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting.  Please make sure to bring that and the device and ask for me.  I will have your payment."

True to her word, when they returned to the lab with the device and the note, Mrs Chen appeared.  She took Hermes and looked it over, nodding. She presented Jet with a card.  He checked it and there was the ten million woolong balance.  

As they were climbing into their carriers, Spike turned to Jet, "You know, if I had started drooling in there we may have gotten the full fifteen million."  

"GHAA!  That's not funny."  

Spike snickered as he closed the pod.

Jet decided to leave Kyoto immediately rather than spend the night at the port like he originally planned.  They took off and Jet set a course for the asteroid belt.  Spike decided to work out, then shower.  He was noticing a metallic smell and hoped that it came off Greene when he was holding on to her in hyperspace.  The shower eased any anxieties, as it wasn't coming from him.  He dressed, then wandered back out to the living area to finish Jet's book.  Jet was nowhere around.

A few hours later, Spike had finished the book.  Yawning, he thought he would turn in for the night.  On his way to Jet's quarters to return his book, Spike thought about Susan Nightfire, hoping she was going to be all right.  _Did I really hear Jet telling her that I was his kid brother?_  He looked in on Jet and found him studying the tree he had picked up a few weeks ago, a look of deep concentration on his face. Not wanting to disturb him, Spike moved to place the book on the end of the shelf nearest the door. Jet noticed him however and smiled.  

"How did you like it?"  

"I liked it!  Good book.  Bird was an interesting man."  

Jet nodded with satisfaction.  Spike stood for a moment, hesitating. 

Jet noticed, "What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just wanted to return the book and say goodnight."  

"Ah.  Night then. Seeya in the morning."

Spike turned and walked towards his own quarters, smiling.


End file.
